Christmas Toys - 1970 version

About 1970 I started to go to some craft fairs with my wife. I did wooden toys, my wife did some small Stained glass ornaments.

I found 5 of the toys in my shop.

This one was the first item that I made.

The wood was oak, size is 13 X 7 and 2” thick.

In my profile I mentioned that I picked up about 20,000 bd ft of hard rock maple.

All the rest of the toys were made from maple.

At one of the fairs a lady asked if I had a train. She said that her son was fascinated with trains. I told her you draw one and I’ll make it.

She did, and I did.

It was my best seller. Size 11 1/2 X 7 1/4×2”

Others that I’ve made that I still have a copy of are:

The caboose is 10 1/2 X 7 1/2 X 2 and the rooster is 10 X 7×2.

I still have all my patterns somewhere.

I used to make about 15 – 20 of them and take them into the house and throw all the pieces on the floor and my kids would see who could make the most, without ever knowing what the final toy would look like.

I used 1/8” bandsaw blade to cut the parts all of the interior cuts were done without using a pattern. You just had to be careful that the cuts were not made in a way that the toy sagged when sitting on the bottom. i.e. The Caboose. When it sits on the two wheels you don’t want the middle to sag. This required that the interlocking pieces were created in such a way that the sag was minimal.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware soon moving to Virginia karsonwm@gmail.com †